Crow Mary

Content Warning: This section discusses racism, colonialism, and colonial violence.

Kathleen Grissom is a Canadian author born and raised in Annaheim, Saskatchewan. She is known for her historical novels The Kitchen House (2010), Glory Over Everything (2016), and Crow Mary (2023). Grissom grew up in a small Catholic community, but her parents encouraged her to discover diverse cultures and religions. Her work focuses on the conflicts and cultural transformations that defined North America in the tumultuous 18th and 19th centuries. In her novel Crow Mary, Grissom fictionalizes the life story of a real Indigenous woman named Goes First, the daughter of a Crow chief. The text illuminates Goes First’s bravery and resilience and her crucial role in the 1873 Cypress Hills massacre of the Nakota (Assiniboine) people. After visiting the historical site in Saskatchewan, Grissom was fascinated by Goes First’s life and felt compelled to write her story. Realizing her limited knowledge of Indigenous cultures, Grissom established direct communication with the Crow tribe. She found support in Goes First’s great-granddaughter, who endorsed the novel, and in Crow scholars, historians, and elders. Grissom emphasizes that the book is premised on facts but fictionalizes characters and events.